This disreputable looking bunch is the McMurdo NOC and Help Desk, the folks I work with on a daily basis. This picture was our Christmas card to the McMurdo and Denver IT groups.
Back to front, left to right:
Claude (Network Engineer), Michiel (Systems Administrator)
Anthony (Systems Administrator), Martin (Help Desk), R.E. (Network Engineer)
Blaise (Systems Administrator)
No need to send shoes. Outside shoes are not allowed in the NOC to avoid tracking dirt and dust in around the equipment. We either walk around in our socks or change into a pair of slippers.
Around McMurdo there were increasing signs of Christmas over the last few weeks, though much less than expected. Some dorm room doors were decorated, a few work centers had decorations up (technically the NOC has a tree, but it was never taken down from last year), and every so often Christmas music could be heard. Organized festivities included a Christmas Choir, the town Christmas party on Friday, a community theater production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas, and regular weekly events with a Christmas theme (Bingo, trivia, etc).
Some pictures from the town Christmas party:
Penguin jack in the box.
The Christmas Choir performed for 30 minutes during the party and again Christmas Eve before the midnight worship service.
In Antarctica, Santa doesn't travel by sleigh, he travels by Piston Bully!
Update: Added a much better picture of the decorated Piston Bully.
For the most part, the atmosphere feels a lot like it did around Thanksgiving: people are more interested in an extra day off, a special dinner, and the extra drinking that comes with both. The attitude is not completely unexpected. After a busy couple of months, thing have hit a lull: seasonal infrastructure is back in place, things are becoming routine, station population peaked and is falling off as science groups head home for the holidays, and a lot of people are feeling the stress of being away from home.
I'll wrap up with a weather report from Christmas day. While not as intense a White Christmas as I'm used to, from what I'm hearing, we have a lot more snow on the ground than Minnesota.
Have a happy and safe holiday season!
No comments:
Post a Comment